Clothes brush



July 7, 1970 R. s RA IF E v 3,518,711

CLOTHES BRUSH Filed May 22, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 r 54- I J I 59 60 W'TNESSES INVENTOR Remington S. Radcliffe AGENT J y 1970 R; s. RADCLIFFE 3,518,711

CLOTHES BRUSH July 7, 1970 v I R. sfRADcuFFE 3,513,711

' CLOTHES BRUSH Filed May 22, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheets United States Patent ()1 3,518,71 l Patented July 7, 1970 lice 3,518,711 CLOTHES BRUSH Remington S. Radcliffe, Lexington, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 22, 1968, Ser. No. 731,150 Int. Cl. A46b 13/02; H01m 45/04 U.S. C]. -23 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to compact clothes cleaning brushes which are battery-powered and, more particularly, to contact structure therefor.

Ordinarily the contacts of the charging device are disposed in a recess in the top of the charging housing. Very often, an appliance of the type herein contemplated, is used at a point remote from the charger and sometimes it is removed from the charger for a long period of time, during which time it is possible for objects or the like to fall into, or be placed into the recess by small, somewhat curious children, causing shorting of the contacts and possible damage.

The manufacture of rechargeable battery-operated appliances is a compromise of higher costs for the sake of a more pleasing appearance. For example, it costs less to provide apertures in the wall of the housing and allow the protrusion therethrough of charging contacts, however intricate molds are required to provide a housing for accommodating contact structures in such a manner as to yield a product having a streamline appearance. It will be appreciated that the optimum in appearance would be the complete absence of the contacts from the outer surfaces of the housing.

Accordingly, it is the general object of this invention 'to provide a new and improved battery-operated clothes brush and charging base.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a new and improved battery operated clothes brush and charging base therefor wherein the female-like charging contacts are carried by the brush and the male-like contacts are carried by the base.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the above-cited objects are accomplished by providing contact structure associated with a batterypowered clothes brush such that the contacts are not visible during normal use thereof. To this end the contacts are disposed in a recess provided in the housing which recess is accessible through the bottom wall of the housing. To facilitate assembly of the brush, all of the internal components, including the contacts, are carried in one of two housing sections making up the brush housing. With this arrangement of the clothes brush contacts, it is possible to mount the contacts of the charging base so that they are not disposed, as typically found, in a recess.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when considered in view of the following drawings and detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery-powered clothes brush and charging base therefor;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view in section showing the components of the battery-powered clothes brush shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary bottom view of the clothes brush shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IVIV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the clothes brush shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines VIVT of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the charging base shown in FIG. 1, but rotated DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, especially FIG. 1, reference character 10 designates generally a battery-powered clothes brush having a housing consisting of sections 8 and 9 and comprising front, rear, top, bottom and side walls 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16, respectively. Associated with the brush 10 is a charging unit or base 17, to be discussed in detail later.

The housing section 8 may be regarded as a base member on which all of the components of the brush are mounted to facilitate assembly of the device. The section 9 forms a cover which is secured to the base portion 8 by a plurality of screws 18 (two of which are shown in FIG. 6). A rotatable brush 19 is supported adjacent the top wall 13 by means of bearings 21 and 22. The top wall 13 is provided with an elongated opening 23 into which the brush 19 extends thereby enabling contact of the brush with a surface being cleaned. Clockwise rotation of the brush 19, as viewed in FIG. 6, effects transfer of lint and dirt from an article of clothing to a lint and dirt collecting chamber 24. Channeling of the dirt and lint to the chamber 24 is accomplished by a pair of baffles 26 and 27, the former of which constitutes a brush housing component 28. The chamber 24, as can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 6, is delineated by the baffle 27, front wall 11, rear wall 12, side wall 16 and an upstanding rib member 30. The side wall 16 is provided with a door structure 19 which provides entry to the chamber 24 for cleaning thereof and also provides access to the brush 19 for removal and cleaning thereof. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the brush bearing 22 is carried by a bearing support 31 which is molded integrally with the door structure 29.

The door structure 29, made from any suitable material, for example, plastics, comprises a chamber closure portion 32 which is connected to a door anchoring member 33 by a living hinge 34. The hinge 34 allows movement of the closure portion 32 completely out of the way when cleaning the chamber 24 or removing the brush 19. The anchoring member 33, as shown in FIG. 6, has a central portion 36 bounded by a pair of wing segments 37, of reduced area. The wing segments 37, insertable in slots 38 and 39 provided, respectively, in housing sections 8 and 9, are captivated therebetween once the housing sections are secured together, as shown in FIG. 6. To hold the door structure 29 in the closed position it is provided with a pair of integrally molded catch members 41 (only one being shown) having sufficient resiliency to be cammed under closing pressure into locking engagement with cooperating latch means 42 carried by rib structure 43 molded integrally with the housing. Sufficient opening pressure on the door structure 29 causes the resilient catch members 41 to also be cammed out of engagement with the latch means 42 permitting opening the door structure to expose the chamber 24 and brush 19'.

A small D-C motor 44 having a pinion 46 fitted to the output shaft thereof serves to drive the brush 19 through a gear 47 integral with the bearing 21 and supported by a bracket 45 attached to the motor casing. Power for the motor 44 is supplied by means of a 1% volt D-C rechargeable battery 48 which as is operatively connected to the motor 44 via conductors 49 and 50 and a switch 51. The switch 51 is adapted to be activated by engagement thereof with the battery 48, by switch actuating button 52 which as viewed in FIGS. 2 and is slidable up and down.

The battery 48 is operatively attached, by conductors, to a. pair of charging contacts 53 and 54 which in accordance with the present invention extend through apertures 55 and 56 provided in a wall 57 of a recessed area 58. The recessed area 58, along with the wall 57 is delineated by walls 59, 60 and 61, the area 58 being accessible through an opening 62 in the bottom wall 14. The contacts 53 and 54 are captivated in transverse lots 63 and 64 formed by a portion of the Wall 57 and a pair of rib structures 65 and 66.

The charger base 17, illustrated in FIG. 7, has an upwardly extending post member having a pair of elongated contact elements 68 and 69 disposed in one vertical Wall thereof and partially in the top wall thereof. The post member has a groove 71 for receiving a tongue element 72 provided in the housing section 9, see FIG. 3. The tongue and groove arrangement serves as means for keying assembly of the brush onto the base 17 to thereby insure mating of contacts 53, 54 with the contact 68, 69.

Since numerous changes may be made in the abovedescribed apparatus, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A compact cleaner comprising:

a housing consisting of two sections fitted together;

said housing comprising top, bottom, front, rear and side walls, said top wall having an elongated opening therein;

a motor in one of said housing sections;

a brush supported in said one of said housing sections adjacent said opening in said top wall and having a peripheral portion projecting through said opening;

means operatively connecting said brush to said motor,

a battery in said one of said housing sections operatively connected to said motor;

said bottom wall having an opening therein communicating with a recessed area delineated by complementary wall sections of said housing sections;

and a pair of charging contacts disposed in one of said complementary wall sections;

said one of said complementary wall sections being integral to said one of said housing sections; whereby all of the components in said housing are carried by said one of said housing sections.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1 wherein:

said one of said complementary wall sections is dis posed in substantially a vertical plane.

3. Structure as specified in claim 2 wherein:

said contacts are captivated in a transverse groove means formed by said one of said complementary wall sections and opposed rib means carried by said one of said housing sections.

4. Structure as specified in claim 3 wherein:

said transverse groove means comprises a pair of grooves disposed one above the other and in parallel planes.

5. In combination, a cleaning device and charging base therefor;

said cleaning device comprising:

a hollow housing consisting of two sections fitted together;

said housing comprising top, bottom, front, rear and side walls, said top wall having an elongated opening therein;

a motor disposed within said housing;

a brush supported in said one of said housing sections adjacent said opening in said top wall and having a peripheral portion projecting through said opening;

means operatively connecting said brush to said motor,

a battery disposed within said housing and operatively connected to said motor;

said bottom wall having an opening therein communicating with a recessed area delineated by complementary substantially vertical wall sections of said two housing sections,

a pair of charging contacts connected to said battery disposed in one of said vertical Walls of said recessed area intermediate the extremities thereof;

said charging base comprising a post member having substantially vertical walls insertable into said recessed area and a pair of elongated charging contacts mounted on one of said vertical walls wipingly engageable With said contacts disposed in said vertical wall of said recessed area when said cleaning device is placed on said base.

6. Structure as specified in claim 5 including:

key means for insuring proper installation of said clothes cleaning device on said charging base.

7. Structure as specified in claim 6 wherein:

said key means comprises a tongue and groove arrangement,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,143,697 8/1964 Springer 320-2 3,156,936 11/1964 Hartman et al. l5--22 3,275,919 9/1966 Decker et al. 3202 3,278,963 10/1966 Bond 1522 3,308,498 3/1967 Evans 15-23 3,316,577 5/1967 Kravos 15 -23 EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R, 320-2 

